When it comes to processors for smartphones and tablet computers, companies like Qualcomm and Samsung have come a long way over the last several years. Processors from both manufacturers have turned up in a wide range of devices, with Samsung powering its own smartphones and those from Apple.

Two of the biggest companies in the microprocessor world are Intel and AMD. While Intel has continued to have success in the mobile processor market, even though its processors aren't as power efficient as offerings from other companies in the smartphone and tablet world, AMD has seen its market share continue to decline.

A new report his week from IC Insights takes a look at the overall microprocessor market for 2012. A significant downturn in the notebook and desktop computer market combined with a significant increase in sales for tablet and smartphone devices saw AMD plummet from second place to fourth place in 2012.

Intel still held the top spot with 65.3% of the overall microprocessor market.

Qualcomm now occupies the second place spot with 9.4% of the market courtesy of its ARM mobile processors for smartphones and tablets. Samsung came in the third spot with 8.2% market share thanks to a huge number of processors in production for Apple devices. AMD was in fourth place with only 6.4% market. Freescale was far behind with 1.9% of the market followed by NVIDIA with 1.4% market.

The overall microprocessor market for 2012 was worth $56.5 billion. The downturn in the personal computer market did see sales growth slow to 2% for the year after growing by 19% in 2011. The forecast is predicting microprocessor sells will increase by 10% for 2013 to $62 billion.

There's a difference between stagnating and docking a tablet. Ultimately what we're talking about here is the intersection of conventional functionality and marginal utility -- the simple fact that more people will in fact be able to achieve whatever level of functionality at Level X of price, of size, etc. The advancement of technology pushes up that bottom line, and move at a more granular rate than the line itself. The line only moves by itself when new types of tech, or tech methodologies, emerge.

Basically, despite the fact that you are right and tech will continue to advance in every way, most people really will be fairly satisfied with their fanless 0.7mm Core i5 tablets in 2015. One doesn't really stop the other.